Overlooked advantages of interactive book reading in early childhood? A systematic review and research agenda.

Previous reviews of the nature and consequences of adult-child book reading have focused on seeking impacts of interactive reading on the acquisition of vocabulary and emergent literacy skills. In this systematic review we examined to what extent there has been systematic study of the effects of interactive reading on four less frequently studied developmental outcomes important to children's academic and life prospects: socio-emotional and socio-cognitive (SEL) skills, narrative skills, grammar, and world knowledge. We identified 67 studies of interactive reading that met the inclusion criteria and that examined the targeted outcomes, using either experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, or single-group intervention methods. We found that studies of effects on grammar and world knowledge outcomes were very sparsely represented; though narrative was often studied as an outcome, the wide variation in conceptualizing and assessing the construct hampered any clear conclusion about book-reading effects. The most robust research strand focused on SEL skill outcomes, though here too the outcome assessments varied widely. We speculate that better instrumented approaches to assessing vocabulary and emergent literacy have led to the persistent emphasis on these domains, despite robust evidence of only modest associations, and argue that work to develop sound shared measures of narrative and SEL skills would enable cross-study comparison and the accumulation of findings. In addition, we note that the various studies implicated different explanatory principles for the value of reading with children: specific interactional features (open-ended questions, following the child's lead, expanding child utterances) or content features (emotion-enhanced books, talk about mental states, science topics), raising another topic for more focused study in the future.

Does kindergarten instruction matter for sustaining the prekindergarten (PreK) boost? Evidence from individual- and classroom-level survey and observational data.

The sustaining environments hypothesis theorizes that the lasting effects of PreK programs are contingent on the quality of the subsequent learning environment in early elementary school. The current study tests this theory by leveraging data from students (N = 462) who did and did not enroll in the Boston Public Schools (BPS) prekindergarten (PreK) program as well as features of their kindergarten instruction measured at the child- and classroom-levels using surveys and observations. Taken together, findings revealed limited evidence for the sustaining environments hypothesis. The bulk of the results were null, indicating that in general, associations between enrollment in BPS PreK and language, literacy, and math skills through the spring of kindergarten did not vary by kindergarten instructional experiences. When examining distinct types of instructional experiences, there were some inklings that child-level observational measures of kindergarten learning experiences-particularly those capturing constrained versus unconstrained instruction-were more predictive of PreK persistence than observed global classroom quality measures or survey-based measures of advanced instruction. However, these associations were not always specific to outcomes matching the content delivered during this instruction (math vs. literacy), consistent with the possibility of either cross-domain effects or that instructional variables are proxies for more general instructional practices. Findings for future research and theory are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Beginning to Read in Vietnamese: Kindergarten Precursors to First Grade Fluency and Reading Comprehension.

Measures of decoding and oral language have been shown to predict early reading comprehension across a wide variety of languages, though the timeframe and strength of the predictions vary by orthographic depth. This study is the first to examine predictors of early reading in Vietnamese, a transparent orthography of Romanized letters and diacritics. Eighty-two children in Hanoi, Vietnam, completed measures of decoding and oral language in kindergarten (phonological awareness, PA; rapid automatized naming, RAN; receptive and expressive vocabulary) and measures of decoding and reading comprehension in first grade. Average performance at the end of first grade, after just one year of formal instruction, was near ceiling on word reading but more variable on nonword and text reading. Kindergarten PA and RAN (but not vocabulary) predicted first-grade decoding after controlling for maternal education and kindergarten decoding, and PA was a stronger predictor than RAN (10% vs 4% of unique variance). The best predictors of first grade reading comprehension were first-grade decoding (47% of unique variance) and kindergarten expressive vocabulary (4% of unique variance) after controlling for maternal education. Overall, Vietnamese children became accurate and efficient decoders after one year of instruction. Findings from RAN and PA suggest their utility in guiding differentiated instruction on decoding. Kindergarten vocabulary, which differed as a function of maternal education, significantly predicted first-grade comprehension.

Shared Book Reading in Preschool Supports Bilingual Children's Second-Language Learning: A Cluster-Randomized Trial.

This cluster-randomized controlled study examined dual language learners (DLLs) in Norway who received a book-based language intervention program. About 464 DLLs aged 3-5 years in 123 early childhood classrooms participated in the study. The children were acquiring Norwegian as their second language in preschool and spoke a variety of first languages at home. They received a researcher-developed intervention that was organized around loosely scripted, content-rich shared reading in school and at home. Receiving the intervention had significant impacts on the children's second-language skills (effect sizes of d = .25-.66). In addition to supporting second-language vocabulary and grammar, the program with its focus on perspective taking during shared reading resulted in impacts on children's ability to shift perspectives and understand others' emotional states.

Analyzing input quality along three dimensions: interactive, linguistic, and conceptual.

This paper provides an overview of the features of caregiver input that facilitate language learning across early childhood. We discuss three dimensions of input quality: interactive, linguistic, and conceptual. All three types of input features have been shown to predict children's language learning, though perhaps through somewhat different mechanisms. We argue that input best designed to promote language learning is interactionally supportive, linguistically adapted, and conceptually challenging for the child's age/level. Furthermore, input features interact across dimensions to promote learning. Some but not all qualities of input vary based on parent socioeconomic status, language, or culture, and contexts such as book-reading or pretend play generate uniquely facilitative input features. The review confirms that we know a great deal about the role of input quality in promoting children's development, but that there is much more to learn. Future research should examine input features across the boundaries of the dimensions distinguished here.

Identifying Developmental Language Disorder in Vietnamese Children.

Purpose Developmental language disorder (DLD), defined by low language performance despite otherwise normal development, can negatively impact children's social and academic outcomes. This study is the 1st to examine DLD in Vietnamese. To lay the foundation, we identified cases of DLD in Vietnam and explored language-specific characteristics of the disorder. Method Teacher ratings of 1,250 kindergarteners living in Hanoi, Vietnam, were used to recruit children with and without risk for DLD. One hundred four children completed direct measures of vocabulary and language sampling, and their parents completed in-depth surveys. We examined convergence and divergence across tasks to identify measures that could serve as reliable indicators of risk. Then, we compared performance on direct language measures across ability levels. Results There were positive associations between teacher and parent report and between report and direct language measures. Three groups were identified based on convergence across measures: DLD, some risk for DLD, and no risk. The DLD group performed lowest on measures of receptive and expressive vocabulary, mean length of utterance, and grammaticality. Although children with DLD exhibited a greater number of errors, the types of errors found were similar across DLD and No Risk groups. Conclusions Similar to rates found globally, 7% of the kindergarten population in Vietnam exhibited risk for DLD. Results highlight the importance of parent and teacher report and the value of multiple measures to identify DLD. We discuss potential clinical markers for DLD in the Vietnamese language and outline future directions.

Experimental impacts of a teacher professional development program in Chile on preschool classroom quality and child outcomes.

We assessed impacts on classroom quality and on 5 child language and behavioral outcomes of a 2-year teacher professional-development program for publicly funded prekindergarten and kindergarten in Chile. This cluster-randomized trial included 64 schools (child N = 1,876). The program incorporated workshops and in-classroom coaching. We found moderate to large positive impacts on observed emotional and instructional support as well as classroom organization in prekindergarten classrooms after 1 year of the program. After 2 years of the program, moderate positive impacts were observed on emotional support and classroom organization. No significant program impacts on child outcomes were detected at posttest (1 marginal effect, an increase in a composite of self-regulation and low problem behaviors, was observed). Professional development for preschool teachers in Chile can improve classroom quality. More intensive curricular approaches are needed for these improvements to translate into effects on children.

Input to interaction to instruction: three key shifts in the history of child language research.

In the early years of the Journal of Child Language, there was considerable disagreement about the role of language input or adult-child interaction in children's language acquisition. The view that quantity and quality of input to language-learning children is relevant to their language development has now become widely accepted as a principle guiding advice to parents and the design of early childhood education programs, even if it is not yet uncontested in the field of language development. The focus on variation in the language input to children acquires particular educational relevance when we consider variation in access to academic language - features of language particularly valued in school and related to success in reading and writing. Just as many children benefit from language environments that are intentionally designed to ensure adequate quantity and quality of input, even more probably need explicit instruction in the features of language that characterize its use for academic purposes.

Academic language and the challenge of reading for learning about science.

A major challenge to students learning science is the academic language in which science is written. Academic language is designed to be concise, precise, and authoritative. To achieve these goals, it uses sophisticated words and complex grammatical constructions that can disrupt reading comprehension and block learning. Students need help in learning academic vocabulary and how to process academic language if they are to become independent learners of science.

Maternal correlates of growth in toddler vocabulary production in low-income families.

This study investigated predictors of growth in toddlers' vocabulary production between the ages of 1 and 3 years by analyzing mother-child communication in 108 low-income families. Individual growth modeling was used to describe patterns of growth in children's observed vocabulary production and predictors of initial status and between-person change. Results indicate large variation in growth across children. Observed variation was positively related to diversity of maternal lexical input and maternal language and literacy skills, and negatively related to maternal depression. Maternal talkativeness was not related to growth in children's vocabulary production in this sample. Implications of the examination of longitudinal data from this relatively large sample of low-income families are discussed.